These Bose earbuds are an easy pick over AirPods for me – why I don’t regret it

oct / 2025

On paper, the Bose QuietComfort Extremely Earbuds (2nd Gen) tech specs could seem painfully incremental, however there’s extra to them than meets the attention. It is spectacular how seemingly innocuous updates from one era to the subsequent can considerably improve the consumer expertise, and Bose is a masterful participant on this regard. 

Assessment: Bose QuietComfort Extremely Headphones (2nd Gen)

They add important options that have been lacking from the 1st-gen product, and do one thing higher whereas retaining the identical price ticket. Nonetheless, in addition they retain some signature Bose quirks that I want did not trouble me as a lot as they do.

I traveled with the Bose QC Extremely Earbuds 2 on two journeys, and whereas they have not changed my Pixel Buds Professional 2 fully — for causes I will clarify later — there’s so much to love right here. This is the way it went. 

Constructed for consolation

The brand new Bose QC Extremely Earbuds 2 prioritize perform over aesthetics. They’re designed for outside use and supply all-day consolation in a well-known model. The earbuds themselves function a guard to handle earwax buildup, which Bose says helps make it “simpler to seize and take away earwax after extended use.” I have never confronted any earwax points with the brand new Bose product, however this design additionally offers them a cosy match.

The Bose QC Extremely Earbuds 2 aren’t essentially the most aesthetically pleasing earbuds and are bigger than the competitors. Based mostly on their look, I used to be skeptical of the match primarily based on the earbuds, however throughout my few weeks of utilization, I have never had them by chance fall out of my ears as soon as. 

I’ve worn them on airplanes, throughout commutes, and even on walks (IPX4 score for sweat resistance) with Transparency mode on, and encountered no unintentional earbud drops in any respect. I really like the snug match of those earbuds, because of their gentle eartips with help bands. I would charge them above Sony’s WF-1000XM5 earbuds and Apple’s AirPods Professional 3 when it comes to consolation.

Just like the earbuds, Bose QC Extremely Earbuds 2’s charging case is cumbersome and awkward-looking, however it’s constructed to final. They arrive in Black, White Smoke, Desert Gold, Midnight Violet, and Deep Plum coloration variants. I have been utilizing the White Smoke mannequin, and regardless of unintentional drops, I am unable to discover a single scratch on my unit. 

It has fared significantly better than my Pixel Buds Professional 2, which bought soiled inside per week, and the AirPods Professional 3, which acquired a number of unknown scratches. That mentioned, this case might be inconvenient to hold, particularly if you wish to place it in your pocket.

Immersive Audio is successful

What does the massive earbuds dimension get you? Similar drivers as earlier than, however with even higher sound. The QC Extremely Earbuds 2 produce pleasing audio with boosted bass and highs. They help AAC, SBC, and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codecs (together with aptX Lossless), in addition to Google Quick Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair for fast connections between gadgets.

The Bose QC Extremely Earbuds 2 supply an pleasurable sound efficiency. At default settings, paired with Apple Music on my iPhone (SBC) and Vivo X100 Professional (AAC), they’ve a powerful bass response. You could have 4 primary EQ presets (Bass Enhance, Bass Reducer, Treble Enhance, and Treble Reducer) to select from, which might be additional adjusted inside the app. 

The earbuds do an ideal job at reproducing the sub-bass and do not sound too sharp at excessive frequencies. I loved listening to my favourite songs by way of varied genres, together with rock and acoustic music. They sound spacious and full-bodied, with good instrument separation when a number of devices are current within the combine.

The Bose QC Extremely Earbuds 2 are among the many finest earbuds for spatial audio. On most merchandise that go for proprietary spatial audio codecs as an alternative of Dolby Atmos, audio replica sounds synthetic and shrill. However Bose has performed a superb job with its Immersive Audio mode. You’ll be able to select between Nonetheless mode, with head monitoring disabled, and Movement mode, with head monitoring enabled. I selected the latter for essentially the most half and cherished it.

They’re one of many uncommon earbuds that sound pure whereas making the music extra vigorous in spatial audio, on par with AirPods Professional 3. However I might put on the Bose QC Extremely Earbuds 2 for longer durations than Apple’s earbuds. As ZDNET’s audio editor, Jada Jones says, these earbuds sound “simply heat sufficient to make long-term put on and listening simple on the ears.” The low- to mid-frequency vary struggles a bit, however the total expertise is sensible. If you wish to expertise immersive audio, these are the earbuds to go for.

How’s the efficiency normally?

If the AirPods Professional 3 are the brand new ANC champion of earbuds, the Bose QC Extremely Earbuds 2 aren’t far behind. Because of eight microphones and new algorithms, they’ll reduce practically all bothersome frequencies, from ambient public chatter in cafes to the rumble of airplane engines. 

The truth is, Bose’s AI-powered lively noise cancellation, ActiveSense, is without doubt one of the finest makes use of of AI on a shopper product. It employs noise cancellation when your atmosphere turns into too loud, which is right for while you’re in public, the place noise ranges are ever-changing. ActiveSense adapts to those modifications within the background swiftly and easily. 

Bose’s transparency mode, dubbed Conscious mode, is equally good and my default noise setting. Human voices sound pure, and you may regulate them to match the noise stage in your atmosphere. It adjusts routinely and not using a lag once I’m speaking to somebody, and the exterior noise naturally fades to the background once I’m performed. Bose’s function performs extra naturally and easily than Apple’s Dialog Consciousness or Sony’s Communicate-to-Chat function.

The Bose QC Extremely Earbuds 2 are rated to last as long as six hours with ANC on and 4 hours in Immersive mode. The case can present a further 24 hours of playback time. Though their battery life is not the shortest, it is also not the longest, which could possibly be a problem on long-haul flights.

Lastly, the Bose app is straightforward to make use of. The Settings menu affords intuitive controls for adjusting the EQ, Modes, Supply, and extra. You may also create your personal noise cancellation mode, which could be a bit tedious and lead to a lack of ActiveSense. Nonetheless, it’s price making an attempt should you’re not glad with the default ANC modes. The Earbud Seal Check and Match Check are extra options for fine-tuning your expertise should you’re not glad with the match.

Be careful for these caveats

I would prefer to level out two points that occurred randomly all through my utilization, and so they relate to connectivity and firmware points.

First, when multipoint is enabled and you’ve got related the earbuds to 2 gadgets as soon as, they proceed to seek for the second system after being faraway from the case. I related the earbuds to my iPhone 17 Professional Max and Vivo X100 Professional. Now, I do not carry my Vivo on commutes. 

So, once I take the earbuds out of the case, they hook up with my iPhone however hold the pairing tone going, searching for a second system. Consequently, you possibly can’t simply join and play your music. The pairing tone interrupts your music for a number of seconds. I had the same challenge with the Bose QuietComfort Extremely headphones, however it was resolved later.

Second, the earbuds typically join individually or do not join in any respect to my iPhone. I’ve to place them again within the case and take them out once more to reconnect. Furthermore, putting in an replace was a irritating expertise. I needed to reset the system and reinstall every part simply to get the replace to switch to the earbuds. 

The QC Extremely Earbuds 2 debuted with SpeechClarity, a function that makes use of Bose’s patented know-how to detect speech and course of it for enhanced readability. This function is just accessible by way of an replace; it wasn’t put in within the earbuds out of the field. Sadly, I could not get this replace to put in on my unit, however ZDNET’s Jada Jones experiences, “With this function enabled, I did not obtain any complaints about warbled or muffled speech when calling family and friends. Even in windy or noise environments like a busy grocery retailer, the earbuds’ microphones held up effectively.”

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

The Bose QuietComfort Extremely Earbuds (2nd Gen) retain their giant kind issue however enhance on varied facets. If Bose can squash the aforementioned bugs, these could be my go-to advice for the immersive audio expertise. At $299, these could also be costly, however they’re definitely worth the price ticket. They’re corresponding to the brand new AirPods Professional 3 when it comes to noise cancellation, however present a extra snug and safe match. 

If you happen to’re searching for a pair of earbuds that match effectively, sound nice, supply glorious ANC efficiency, and full the function set with an distinctive spatial audio expertise, the Bose QC Extremely Earbuds 2 are a straightforward advice.